Railway-signal



l2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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J. L. POALK. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 249,669. `Palented Nov. 15,1881.

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J.'L.P0ALK.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 249,669. Patented Nov. 15,1881.

wedded, fl@ W i@ 9%0 @MJ/f@ IINrTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. LANE P()ALK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVA/IA.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 249,669, dated November I5, 1881.

Application filed May 24,1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, J. LANE POALK, ot'Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand usefnllrnprovernents in Railroad-Signals; and I do hereby declare the following to a view of the track, showing the mechanisml for operating the devices for elevatingthe signal; Fig. 5, a detached view ot' the rock-shaft,

through the medium of which the signal mechanism is operated to elevate the signal. Fig. 6 is a perspective view, showing all the parts composing my signal arranged in relation to a section ot' railway.

A is the rail; B, a short movable section of the rail adapted to be depressed against the bed of the road beneath bythe weight of the train passingover it and to spring up into its original position after the train has passed; G, a short friction-lever under the flange of section B,the upper end of which is depressed by the downward mot-ion ot' section B, D, a rod set rigidly in the lower end of lever C at one end, the other end being set rigidly in the hub or inner end oflever E, as shown at E, Fig. l.

E is a lever, one end of which rests under the foot of the bar or standard F.

F Fare disconnected sections of' one standard,which co-operate to operate the electrical part of my device.

G is a lug on standard F to depressthe heel of lever H.

H is a lever hinged at the point H to a supi port, I. rIhe other end, J, is provided with an armature which operates in connection with the electro-magnet P P.

K is a cylindrical box, through which passes the pin L. This boX contains a spiral spring to throw the pin up into position after it has been relieved by the elevation of lever H.

M is the wire passing from the point M to tance in advance.

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the battery N.; 0, a wire passing from Vthe point O to the magnet P P 5 Q, a wire leading from coils ofthe magnetP to thecircuit-breaker Q U at. another station.

. R is a lever to be depressed by the weight of a train operating upon it.

S isapinorrod passingdown through a cy lindrical box like that shown in Fig. l, the spiral spring in which box, however, operates to depress the pin S instead of to raise it. This pin S has a lug nponits upper extremity' which engages upon the heel otl pivoted lever R,where by, when the outerend of leverR is depressed, (its inner end being thereby raised,) the lngis raised and the pin S is thus elevated.

T is a supporty for the cylinder containing the pin. This pin terminates belowin apoint, Q', which is directly above a corresponding point, U.

Q is the line-wire connectingthe device at the two stations.

'U is a ground-wire. The batteryN has also a ground-wire, N.

Wis the signal, which is raised and lowered by the upward 0r downward movement ofthe standard F'.

When the points Q. U are separated the circuit is broken between wires U and Q,'a nd when the points M and O are brought into contact a circuit is made from the battery N through the wires IVI 0 through the magnets P P to the wire Q.

The operation is as follows: The signal apparatus is set at any given point ot' the railroad-track beyond whichit is desired to know when atrain passes. The circuit-breaker Q U is setat a station beyond which, when the train has passed, it is desired to reverse the action of the signal apparatus. The apparatus is intended to apprise the engineer ot' one train which is following another when the first train has passed beyond a certain point some dis- Suppose that the signal W is lowered by means of the section ot' standard F being down-that is, its bottom resting on the top of the section F-the lever H will then be in the position shown in Fig. 2. When a tra-in comes by this signal-station it will, by depressing the short section of track B, turn lever C and throw up the lever E', thus forcing up the .section F of the signal-standard ICO against the lower end of section F. Section F' is thus thrown up, raising the lug Gr high enough to relieve the heel of lever H, and allow this lever to fall down into the position shown in Fig. 1, so that its armature J strikes the post of the magnet P I. The fall of lever H at the same time forces down the pin L until the points M' O' meet. This completes the electrical circuit from the batt ry N to the magnet, and magnetic attraction olds the armature J down against the post ot' the magnet. The heel of the lever H is thus heldtup, and, consequently, the signal W is held up also by the pressure ot' said heel against lug G. The train then passes by, and the signal is still held up. Finally, the train, when it reaches .the point in the road where the eircnitbreaker is located, strikes a movable section of track similar to B, Fig. 4, and depresses the end of lever R. All the points, M', O', Q', and U', are insulated, and the points Q' U' are always held in contact, so as to keep up a ground-connection through the wire U, excepting when they are thrown apart by the raisingof pin S. When, as lnentioned above, the passing train lowers the long end of lever R,tl1e pin S is raised, the circuit between points Q' U' is broken. This short break destroys the current passing through the magnet, and the armature oflever H being suddenly ieleased, the lever H rises and drops its heel under the weight of lug G and the signal and standard F', and the section of standard F' vsinks down to its original position, (see Fig. 2,) and thus lowers the signal. The engineer ot the next train which comes along is thus apprised of the fact that the train next preceding his has passed the pointof road where the circuit-breaker Q' U' is located.

The operation is repeated at the passage of every train.

The combined weights of the standard F', lug G, signal W, and ofthe heel of lever H exerted on one side of the pivotal point of lever H is but a trifle greater than the weight of lever H upon the other side of said point, whereby when the armature J is touching the magnetized post of P P the attraction is suicent to hold it there so long as the electrical current continues to overcome the slight difference in weight.

The appara-tus shown in Fig. 6, instead of being automatic, may be operated by a stationmaster to break the circuit at the passage of a train.

Devices other than that shown for operating the lever E' from the rail will suggest themselves to the mind of any skilled mechauicnd I do not limit myself to that shown. I' shall call the pin L and the points M' 0 and the p in S and its points Q' U' brakes7 in my claim.

In a railway-signal, thevertically-movable standard, the lug, and the signal thereon, the vertically-movable section F, its lifting-levers and rock-shaft, and the actuating mechanism B, in combination with the lever H, its armature, the electro-magnet, the circuit-breaker arranged beneath the long arm of lever H, and a circuit-breaker located at a distant point ofthe road and operated to release lever H and allow the signal to drop, substantially as described.

J. LANE PO'ALK. Witnesses:

GEORGE E. BUCKLEY, WM. H. CARSON. 

